Clear Sign Of Revival In Industrial Production: Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday that there have been clear signs of improvement in the industrial production. “In spite of all the worries that industrial production indicators showed in the fourth quarter of 2018-19… we see a clear sign of revival in the first quarter of 2019-20 and in July,” said the Finance Minister at a press conference. Nirmala Sitharaman also announced a slew of measures to boost exports as well as housing, including a Rs 10,000-crore special window fund to push affordable and middle-income housing.

“Inflation has been kept under control and well below 4 per cent,” she said. Official data this week showed consumer inflation stood at 3.21 per cent in August, remaining below the Reserve Bank of India's medium-term target of 4 per cent for a thirteenth month in a row. 

The announcements come days after the government said it intends to more than triple the country's annual exports to $1 trillion in the next five years, and were part of a third instalment of measures in a span of three weeks to revive the economy.

The economy expanded 5 per cent in the quarter ended June 30, the slowest pace of growth recorded in six years. 

In a bid to boost affordable housing, the Finance Minister said the Rs 10,000-crore fund will be available to complete unfinished affordable and middle-income housing projects, and an equal amount will come from the private sector or from a government insurance company.

The Finance Minister said the government would organise mega shopping festivals in four cities across the country in March next year.